Introduction

This data set is a summary of data collected by master gardeners, master naturalists, gardeners, students, and other pollinator enthusiasts in the Southern USA, as a part of a citizen science project. For details on the method of data collection, visit the pollinator project webpage

The data summarized below is for data collected between 2019-09-09T08:24:41.441-05:00 and 2019-09-09T08:24:23.491-05:00.

First, let’s take a look at a good part of the dataset (first 50 rows). This dataset includes a total of 7459 observations and 34 columns of information. That’s a whole lot of data to go through - feel free to peruse through it below.

A few columns explained for your convenience:

  • student_status: We had some students from a few schools join the citizen science project. We wanted to be able to separate out student from non-student data, if needed, so this category identifies observations made by students.
  • firstobs: Certain pieces of information did not have to be repeated if multiple simultaneous observations were being conducted. For example, we didn’t ask for coordinates, temperature, or the submitters email if they were submitting several observations within an hour.
  • loclat: The latitude of where the observation was made
  • loclong: The longitude of where the observation was made
  • latname and cultivar : The latin name and cultivar of plant being observed, assuming it was known. This is information entered by the user, which was then cross-checked using theplantlist.org. Information on that provided in later column(s).
  • bloom : A percentage rating of how much of the plant was in bloom.
    • 0 = Less than 25%
    • 1 = Between 25 - 50%
    • 2 = Between 51 - 75%
    • 3 = More than 75%
  • colors: The next several columns refer to the colors of the flowers. Users could check multiple colors, as flowers could potentially belong to more than one category. Responses are recorded as “1” (that color is present) or “0” (color is not present). The colors are self-explanatory, with a few exceptions:
    • blue = blue/cyan
    • purp = purple/indigo/violet
    • whitepink = white/pink
  • largebee to butterflies: The total number of each of those types of pollinators seen during the 60-second observation. Refer to the pollinator project website for more details on the categories.
  • Family and New.Genus: These two values were automatically generated by comparing the “latname” column against the theplantlist.org database, and returning closest matches. Where there is not a good match, the original latname is simply echoed back into the New.Genus column and the Taxonomic.Status is returned back as anything but “Approved”.

Table 1. Plant Families

Below is the full list of plant families and frequency of observations, where the actual latin name was verified by theplantlist.org. The total number of observations where the latin name was verified is 3335 out of the total 7459.

Table 1. Full list of plant families and frequency of observations that were reported during the project
Plant Family Frequency of Observations
Acanthaceae 98
Amaranthaceae 39
Amaryllidaceae 6
Apiaceae 52
Apocynaceae 71
Araceae 1
Asparagaceae 52
Berberidaceae 3
Bignoniaceae 98
Boraginaceae 29
Brassicaceae 3
Campanulaceae 1
Cannabaceae 18
Cannaceae 1
Caprifoliaceae 16
Caryophyllaceae 1
Cleomaceae 3
Commelinaceae 20
Compositae 738
Convolvulaceae 5
Crassulaceae 14
Cucurbitaceae 77
Euphorbiaceae 7
Fagaceae 18
Hydrangeaceae 14
Hypericaceae 15
Lamiaceae 847
Leguminosae 92
Liliaceae 4
Lythraceae 117
Magnoliaceae 11
Malpighiaceae 5
Malvaceae 173
Myrtaceae 1
Nyctaginaceae 7
Onagraceae 12
Passifloraceae 23
Phytolaccaceae 1
Plantaginaceae 32
Plumbaginaceae 32
Poaceae 1
Polemoniaceae 67
Polygonaceae 28
Portulacaceae 41
Ranunculaceae 2
Rosaceae 8
Rubiaceae 126
Rutaceae 6
Sapindaceae 1
Scrophulariaceae 75
Solanaceae 3
Talinaceae 1
Verbenaceae 197
Xanthorrhoeaceae 22

You can click on the links for any given family name, and it will take you to a wikipedia page on the specified plant family. Our study included a total of 54 plant families.

Figure 1. Pie of Plant Families

Pie chart of percentage (and frequency) of observations on a specific plant family. Note that frequency of observations has nothing to do with pollinator attractiveness. At this point, we’re just summarizing what was looked at! This is practically the exacty same data as above, but displayed in a pie chart for better illustrative purposes.

Table 2. Pie of Plant Genus

Pie chart of percentage (and frequency) of observations on a specific plant genus Note that frequency of observations has nothing to do with pollinator attractiveness. At this point, we’re just summarizing what was looked at!

  1. Extension Program Specialist, Texas AM AgriLife Extension, 1710 FM N 3053, Overton, TX↩

  2. Extension Specialist, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension↩

  3. Professor, Oklahoma State University↩

  4. Assistant Professor of Entomology, Texas Tech University↩

  5. Assistant Professor of Entomology, Tarleton State University↩